Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as, for example, voice, data, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems may include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), evolution data optimized (EV-DO), etc.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems may simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communications between mobile devices and base stations may be established via single-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobile devices (and/or base stations with other base stations) in peer-to-peer wireless network configurations.
In many mobile devices, subscription information is stored in either a nonvolatile (NV) device memory or a removable Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) depending on the access technology to which the subscription information pertains. Currently, for example, in certain wireless devices, when network service is available on a 1x-RTT/Data Optimized (DO) network technology, network subscription information is stored on and retrieved from the device NV memory. However, in these devices, when service is available on any other access technology—such as GSM, UMTS, or LTE—subscription information is stored on and retrieved from the UICC.
These traditional wireless devices power up the UICC upon device power-up and only power down the UICC when the device is fully powered down. As such, in these devices, the UICC is powered-up and available for querying regardless of the network access technology in use by the wireless device at a given time. The power used for the UICC in such scenarios may be an unnecessary drain on battery life.